Pages

9/01/2014

"Can it be True?" BBC Competition.

August came and went in the blink of an eye
and now it seems we are almost into autumn. A new term for those returning to
school and great excitement for a certain little boy who starts school
tomorrow. How I wish I could be a fly on the wall!

I seem to have been very busy with one
thing and another. I have redesigned my website in order to make changes and
updates easily without having to ask for help. I made it on blogger, better the
devil you know, it will be a work in progress.

A box full of ‘Can it be True?” book
samples arrived followed by some rather exciting news. Those of you who listen
to BBC Radio 3 Breakfast might have heard about a new Christmas Carol
Competition. Listeners are being asked to set the words of a new version of
“Can it be True?” by Susan Hill to create a new Christmas carol. If you are
musically inclined you might like to enter, details are available here-

I took this photograph to give you some idea of the scale of the book. As you can see it is Christmas stocking size.

I hope to have some of the Christmas books
for sale soon in my bookshop, maybe in the next few days. It seems a bit too soon to think about the
festive season so maybe I will leave it for a while, not wanting to wish away
the last of the summer.

We celebrated our wedding anniversary by a
trip to Bodnant garden, which is probably the most beautiful garden I have ever
visited. With panoramic views of Snowdonia, wooded glades, waterfalls, lily
ponds, terraces and rose gardens all combine to create an earthly paradise. We
have seen the garden before but not for some years now and noticed many
improvements, we hope to return soon.

Are you looking forward to the next series
of Downton Abbey when it returns to our television screens soon? I love cosy
Sunday nights with a new craft project, a glass of wine and good old Downton. I
am hoping for lots lavish interiors and posh frocks and people looking
wistfully in the mid distance whilst opining that "times are a-changing".

You may have noticed that I have been playing around on the Spoonflower site. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this website, it is a print on demand site for textiles, wallpapers and wraps. I thought I might try out some new ideas and make available again some designs that have been retired. Like my website this is another work in progress activity. At the moment I am waiting for some samples before deciding what to do next.

Sometimes it seems that I have so many projects on the go and hardly any finished but I am pleased to report that I finally managed to complete the miniature painting I started in the summer. Now what shall I paint next?

I am excited for you and your new book! I love the size. I am working on a teeny size set of books myself, instead of my usual 12x12 format. Thanks for mentioning the Spoonflower site. I had heard of it before, but was unsure what it was all about. I would definitely be interested in doing some wraps. As always Valerie, your newest work in miniature is stunning.

The book looks brilliant, I'd not heard of this before. Love your owl on the moss, all the lovely detail, I am glad to see that magnifying glass there, I have a similar one, so hard to work without one at that size, stunning results though :) Thank-you for visiting me.

What a great idea Valerie to have your website on blogger, it looks fab too. I have such troubles trying to keep on top of my website, it's not easy to use really. I always look forward to Downton, Mr O and I got totally hooked which is unusual for us, but I just loved "all" of it. I adore this wee painting, you must have so much patience! x

Hi Valerie...I thought I would pop on over to see what my old blog buds have been up to and see that as always, you are busy as ever! Your Sunday nights are another kindred event to mine....although we won't get Downton Abbey until January here in Canada!! I am trying out a few new series including a Canadian version of Broadchurch but with the same British actor. It's called Gracepoint. I'm also giving True Detective a go but hoping its not too dark or violent...not my thing. I'm finally back in the studio after a long hot summer of gardening and traveling to Paris. I still haven't been able to sit and write about it but it's coming one of these days...hope you're well...all the best...KerryBy the way, that min painting is adorable!

What a lovely post! I liked your miniature painting and the box full of books. By the way, Christmas might seem far away, yet it will come really quickly. I must admit I started thinking about it just the other day... Well, I guess for now we should look forward to long evenings spent indoors watching our favourite films and crafting. Hopefully some of our projects will be finished, just like your beautiful owl!

About Me

Hello, this is the blog belonging Valerie Greeley RMS. I paint in miniature, sometimes slightly larger but always small scale. Years ago I studied printed textiles and hold a BA (Hons) in the subject. I have a special interest in the book arts including illustration, bookbinding, printmaking and artist books.